Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Sasuke 27 - Spoilerific Review - Part 14

Sasuke spoilerific review ;) Warning.. incoming blog of Sasuke 27.. if you don’t want to know.. you have been warned :D (Just remember.. the USA Broadcast of this.. will be.. well.. March, 2012.. Yes.. you read that right.. another 5 months after taping this event back in July... Thanks to everyone for being so patient. Got sick with headaches again this year and am still recovering from an inner ear infection.. yum.. Anyway.. For a preview of this event.. Please see SASUKE 27 NAVI 1 hour review of Sasuke 27 with fluff pieces of all the major players in the upcoming Sasuke and even a couple of runs that were cut from the official broadcast!. Oh.. and as Ube says: If you are from the G4 Forums, DON'T POST THIS THERE. They expect everyone to stick their head in the sand and pretend it doesn't exist.. P.S. I will NOT be covering ANW3 on this blog especially since it aired a couple months ago and I prefer to blog about everyone at once.. not in isolation! Thanks!

I don't think anyone really understand the ridiculous pressure put on these guys.. Especially him.. having to shoulder some STUPID rumor that Yamada invented and TBS perpetrated just so they can create drama on a television show.

Hopefully finally people will just STFU... he won the damn thing in SNEAKERS this time! And was more dominant than ever!

Crowd reacting to Yuuji's scream

massive congrats to a true champion. Hopefully NOW TBS will respect you for the Champion you are. I for one am THRILLED you won again!

Ryo getting emotional by the speech

and Nagano looking fab.. er.. yeah that too.. LOL

This has been a Monster 9 and TBS production.. NOT NBC.. /facepalm

Oh and to pour more salt in the wound.. Yuuji got what.. $4 mil Yen (that's like 30k folks).. Thanks to NBC and K-Swiss.. he's not worthy of that half million dollars USA for the EXACT SAME EVENT... /shakesfist

It's a shame how little respect this guy has gotten.. seriously.. well enough of my rant.. just damn tired of Comcast soiling things..

2-Time champion folks!I pray we see a Sasuke 28!

Okay. Final thoughts on the tournament. I loved it! This is what happens when you give people at least 2 months to prepare.. not the half-butted attempt in Sasuke 26 that really caused issues to everyone. I'm still not happy it took so long for TBS to air it.. That has to change as we know ANW3's ratings was really low. It was not worth sacrificing this broadcast for bad ratings in the USA. If NBC decided to actually SHOW Sasuke that would have been different.. but they spent the entire time showing a show that no one wanted to watch. People tune in to see Ninja Warrior for all 100 competitors.. not just 10. They did awesome but it would have been better served if they showed the entire tournament to see them compete with the rest of the field. Purposefully removing everything Japanese about the show, the people, the announcer, the results.. did a huge disservice to the kick ass Americans who did ridiculously well in the tournament. Also K-Swiss only wanting to award an American in a field of 100 a prize for an event that wasn't segregated and refuse to award money and recognition to the actual winner just sucks all kinds of .. you know. It was in poor taste. I'd rather them award the money to the winner of boot camp than to discriminate on a foreign show who gets the prize. Either equally distribute the money for the winner regardless of country of origin or don't award it at all and leave it to TBS who has been doing it for 14 years.

Anyway... really really really want to thank a few people. Lost in Ube for oh geez.. the list is so long. Outside of my inspiration for even blogging in the first place back when I found Sasuke and found his blogs back in 2007 he's been a great online friend whom I can watch Sasuke and use candor and humor when watching without people hawking my every word :p And then of course his Live blog which I abuse constantly when creating my own. His time-consuming diligence in trying to update the wiki with scnoi by using his own sources and painstakingly going through each person to get the right kanji. I honestly believe a lot of people really don't realize how hard it is to do these things (especially his live blog). VxJasonxV for the Sasuke Navi and Sasuke 27 feed he provided from his paid subscription of WIST. Without that I don't think half the community would have even SEEN the tournament! Thanks to the streamers that helped our community see the event! Thanks for Jams for giving me a clear copy of the tourney for the blog since my VLC kept crashing during the broadcast the last time and I didn't want to risk it this time.... Thanks to the community for being patient when I FINALLY got the blogs up and for READING them! I'm happy people find enjoyment in them as much as I enjoy creating them. I'm ecstatic more people have used my blog as an introduction to such a wonderful show and it makes it even more worthwhile when I know my fangirling is actually to good use! I'm excited to see our small group grow to literally thousands around the world banding together to watch this show through tiny computer screens that often crash. Praying for another tournament so I can keep updating this blog with relevant information. Didn't think after all these years I'd still be doing this and enjoying it. Ya'll have made it worth the while :)

Hopefully we'll get news about a Sasuke 28. The 2nd place overall for the evening and a rating of 12.6% was great considering how low the other recent tournaments have been faring. Let's hope that TBS sees this as the good news I believe it to be!

No idea about what they might do in the future. People expected a whole new course for 25 and they got a rehash of old obstacles in new places. So beats me what direction they might head.

It's a shame the derivatives suck. Because each has their own potential. My biggest problem is destroying the Japanese broadcast.. if they just separated ANW to it's own thing maybe people wouldn't be so upset about it. But as soon as they crossed into territory that Japan created the course just for them.. that's where we all drew the line. Keep ANW in ANW and Keep Sasuke in Sasuke. Pretty basic but Comcast gets greedy.

If G4 reformulates its broadcasts and packaging of ANW and Sasuke, I see some huge potential.

I would suggest G4 retains ANW as the official US preliminary for each Sasuke competition, but gets entirely out of producing the sawed-off Sasuke version that features only the US players in a format that threatens to drown out and overshadow the rest of Sasuke. As much as many of us enjoy ANW, it needs subordinate itself to Sasuke.

In this light, I would recommend G4broadcasts the ANW episodes immediately before the release of the respective Sasuke competition. Follow that up with the full Sasuke competition itself. (In Japanese, of course. We can all read subtitles, can't we?) Finally, conclude the series with in-depth ANW post-competition wrap up that reunites all the American competitors, details each of their runs, and allows them a bit of time to reflect on their experience.

So glad Yuuji won!And I'm betting there'll be a Sasuke 28. You don't just get a 12.6. Super-popular Japanese drama shows might have a final episode with a rating between 11 and 14 (14 if it has an all-star cast and ratings normally over 11 each episode) so a 12.6 is freaking amazing for a show that's not as publicized as a regular drama.Looking forward to Yuuji's attempt at 28, and I'm guessing they're going to re-design a few things again for the next stage.

Great tribute to Yuji for the credit he deserves. Yeah, my favorite scene was when Ryo gave advice to Yuji. Not that I think Yuji needed it but it just goes to show what kind of guy Ryo is and as you pointed out, their wonderful friendship. Long live UNCLI!!!(And honorary members like Hashimoto and Kawaguchi...)

A couple of (long) thoughts:1. Let's hope the ratings in Japan are good enough to keep Sasuke going, but the devil's advocate question: if the Comcast arrangement remains at best as is, and it's the main/only way to keep the show going financially, do you accept it? I don't like the pure American show either, but someone has to pay for this.2. I hope they can now put Yuuji up on at least an equal level now with Nagano for promotion (although I understand why they put Nagano up front). He deserves it.3. If it isn't obvious by now, the winners use their strength and agility relevant to their strength to win. None of the winners seem close to average American height.4. What in the world is Brian Orosco doing over there? I am glad he went, and should have had a chance to run based on his past, regardless of the ANW (although he didn't do as well in ANW, I understand). Did he pay his way over to come with the team of 10? Does anyone know? If he paid his own way (even if he didn't, come to think of it), I admire the man even more. Sasuke does mean a lot to him.5. Thank you, thank you, thank you, again, Arsenette. It's been fun over the years to read it with photos/commentary (and with Ube's help), and it takes so much work. I wonder how much the contestants give you input back (here or on other forums). I hope you're well now.

hdm_1 I agree with everything you said but the likelihoos of that happening is so remote it's frustrating.

Hey for the unknowns it would be nice if it's signed in some way so I can write a name back to whoever it was that posted ;)1. For the 10th billion time.. Comcast is not keeping Sasuke in Japan going.. Sasuke in Japan is being kept alive by advertising revenue within Japan. Period.2. Let's see if TBS accepts Yuuji and starts to promote him. He has the potential to be the next big star if they let him.3. I see an American winning this at some point so not sure what you mean about American height. Especially someone as well trained as David.4. G4 has always brought alternates since ANW1. Brian being there is no different than before just that we recognize him because he should have been competing. If you go back to ANW1 and ANW2 they had alternates go with them.5. Thanks :) Hope I can feel better soon. Unfortunately I'm pretty sickly so something is usually wrong at some point. LOL But thanks for the concern :)

1. Okay, I'm dense/thick/whatever you want to call it about the revenue issue, or I'm just finding it harder to keep up as life gets busier with Sasuke.2. I haven't figured out why my username doesn't get attached to the "unknown" posts, but "Rod" is the person behind probably most of the posts (I don't want to claim responsibility for all of them, since I can only wander by here occasionally).3. I know what you mean about David, it just seems that when I look at American major sports in general, being under 6 feet is uncommon, so I was awkwardly making my point that it's good to see vertically challenged (in the sports world) athletes that can win. I realize gymnastics (e.g., Nagano) and some other sports fit better for shorter athletes, but not the major sports here.

Wikipedia lists average height for American men mostly around 5'10", Japan at 5'7.5". It seems that in some competitions, especially on things like the cliff hanger, the extra size (which can help in things like the warped wall) can hinder the effort? No?4. The alternates. Geez. Face Palm. I know I need more sleep. That's right. Brian was the last one out this year.5. I wonder if the contestants enjoy your stuff here, too, or if they stick to places like G4 forums (like I recall seeing Ryan and David).

Unfortunately, I don't have the luxury as much to follow Sasuke, so your work helps when I get the chance. This may be all I can allocate for a while. Thanks for responding. Get well!

1. It's a hot topic on SMF whenever this is brought up. Simply a lot of people just do not understand advertising revenue vs. ratings. Ratings are tools to ask for more advertising revenue not money generators on their own. Also outside money is part of syndication revenue that's handled differently. Not as a stopgap to fund a foreign show on a network struggling in last place. It just doesn't work that way. Wishful thinking on the part of Comcast fans though is not going to change how the system works.2. Ah hey Rod :) Yeah actually blogger has been weird in changing people's names and whatnot lately. I hope they fix that. I also changed some things on my end where I'm allowing anonymous again in hopes I can get some Japanese to write on the blog as they have not been able to do so before with the word verification being literal letters for us.3. Height by itself is not a hindrance if you have the strength to hold your own weight. It's all about balance. So no being tall is not a problem unless you do not know how to handle your own weight ratio. Sure being shorter can help in some things (less body mass to carry.. provided they are not overweight) but overall height by itself is not an advantage or disadvantage with proper training for weight ratio.4. Tehehehe no worries. Again this was the first time anyone really paid attention to the alternates since they were expecting Brian to not be there (if they saw ANW) or to be there (if they didn't and expected as a 3rd stage competitor he would have automatically been returned). Last time Levi went as an alternate despite his broken hand since actually HE was the one replaced at the last moment.5. A lot do. Especially in Japan. Most just look at the pictures and read Sasukepedia. Others like the Americans are aware of my blog. Some post more on SMF these days though as G4 boards is a dying board with hardly anyone on it for the past year or so.

Hey no worries :) I don't work so I find things to keep me busy when my health allows it. I know most people don't have the time to sift through information so that's why I update this blog when I can. I love sharing what I find as we both know how much of a fan we all are :) teheheheh Still though we go in globs of information at a time. Around tourneys there's a lot then it goes in hibernation then back up again. SMF though is the most updated as they are the ones that handle the updates on Sasukepedia.

Thank you so much for the info. Fascinating. I've known about sasukepedia and SMF for a while, but barely had the time to peek at them once or twice. Without the luxury of time, for now I'll stick with reliable/fun like your blog and Ube's for now (not that it takes 30 seconds to read the posts, but it's worth it for the commentary alone--kittens, wife beater shirt, and other fun additions to my vocabulary!). Even with the videos, for whatever reason, it's more fun to see the screen shots of Nagano's facial expressions than the video (especially when he's watching what creative way Shingo's going to screw up--I like Shingo more actually because of that). Thanks again, and hope your health gets beter!

I posted it several times especially in the beginning. Sasuke 24 Yamada refused to acknowledge him as a champion because he said Yuuji cheated by having special shoes.. which we all know is false since M9/TBS wouldn't have allowed him to even GET on the obstacle much less keep the title if he cheated in anyway.. on top of that everyone else in the final was wearing similar shoes..

You are absolutely right on Yuuji & Ryo having a strong friendship, I interpreted this is a really strong bond that actually helped them on the course. While you have your reviews, I left my own little mark on Sasuke 27. I encourage you to see what I did with what happened during the Final. I took the whole idea of Yuuji & Ryo being friends to another level, there's a lot of emphasis on their struggle. It's on my youtube, I hope you like what I did.